3 ms·

I like to think that some form of commenting must work, since commenting is just textual conversation, and I hope that conversation isn't fundamentally broken.

by mjn 14y ago

I like to think that some form of commenting must work, since commenting is just textual conversation, and I hope that conversation isn't fundamentally broken. I'll admit that a lot of conversation (even in person) is made of rehashes. I also agree comments attached to news articles are pretty broken. I find commenting most rewarding in groups that have a medium-sized, long-term membership, so the community has some familiarity and shared ethos. A few mailing lists and web forums I'm on feel close to that.

philwelch 14y ago
Mailing lists can approach a higher level, but a lot of the great dialogues of history happened when people would write full-out letters and essays of their own in response to each other. The closest thing I've seen to this online is when bloggers disable comments but keep trackbacks turned on. If you disagree with someone's blog post, write your own blog post and use a trackback to link it so there's still a conversation. This raises the bar for a few reasons. First, no one is going to keep a blog that has nothing but middlebrow dismissals or bad jokes, and if they do, no one will read it. Second, blogs have more of an identity and a reputation, so the author has stakes in the game greater than that of a disposable HN or Reddit account. Third, you can selectively follow a network of bloggers and if someone's a bozo, you just stop reading their blog instead of having to wade through their comments. Fourth, your responses on your own blog are more likely to be substantive because you have to make it worthwhile to your own blog's audience as well--introducing an issue and expressing your dissenting take on it can be worthwhile, but your standard drive by comment is not.
- mjn 14y ago
  I sometimes like blog-reply conversations, but I find them more disjointed and harder to follow. Often it feels like three people are each standing on street corners with megaphones, vaguely gesturing in each others' directions but really, mainly talking to their own audiences, not engaging in direct conversation. It's the direction I've gone myself, but partly for selfish reasons: I want to "own" my more interesting essays by posting them on my own website, rather than on someone else's. I don't really monetize it, but I think that's another motivator leading people to withdraw their good writing to self-publish on a blog: 15 years ago you might've posted something on Usenet, a mailing list, or Kuro5hin, but today you want to publish it under your own personal brand, and collect the traffic. I think there are positive aspects to that, but the discussions and communities often feel less coherent as a result.

by mjn 14y ago

philwelch 14y ago

Mailing lists can approach a higher level, but a lot of the great dialogues of history happened when people would write full-out letters and essays of their own in response to each other. The closest thing I've seen to this online is when bloggers disable comments but keep trackbacks turned on. If you disagree with someone's blog post, write your own blog post and use a trackback to link it so there's still a conversation. This raises the bar for a few reasons. First, no one is going to keep a blog that has nothing but middlebrow dismissals or bad jokes, and if they do, no one will read it. Second, blogs have more of an identity and a reputation, so the author has stakes in the game greater than that of a disposable HN or Reddit account. Third, you can selectively follow a network of bloggers and if someone's a bozo, you just stop reading their blog instead of having to wade through their comments. Fourth, your responses on your own blog are more likely to be substantive because you have to make it worthwhile to your own blog's audience as well--introducing an issue and expressing your dissenting take on it can be worthwhile, but your standard drive by comment is not.

mjn 14y ago
I sometimes like blog-reply conversations, but I find them more disjointed and harder to follow. Often it feels like three people are each standing on street corners with megaphones, vaguely gesturing in each others' directions but really, mainly talking to their own audiences, not engaging in direct conversation. It's the direction I've gone myself, but partly for selfish reasons: I want to "own" my more interesting essays by posting them on my own website, rather than on someone else's. I don't really monetize it, but I think that's another motivator leading people to withdraw their good writing to self-publish on a blog: 15 years ago you might've posted something on Usenet, a mailing list, or Kuro5hin, but today you want to publish it under your own personal brand, and collect the traffic. I think there are positive aspects to that, but the discussions and communities often feel less coherent as a result.